Holly and Emma: A Love Story
by inthecompanyoflove
Summary: Holly/Emma. Months after both of them starting new lives without Will, Holly and Emma run into each other in a grocery store and realize that it's not about who you're attracted to right away: it's about who you fall in love with.
1. Chapter 1

Emma wasn't quite too sure how things changed so quickly.

She'd been out of her intensive therapy program for almost three months when she ran into Holly Holliday at the grocery store. It was late September, a Saturday evening, and Emma was buying more peanut butter. She intended it to be a quick trip and then she was walking back to her condo to read and go to bed. That was, of course, until she heard a voice from the other end of the otherwise empty aisle

"Emma _Pillsbury_?"

Emma turned, surprised, recognizing the voice but not able to place it. Her brown eyes met a pair of bright blue ones and Emma's stuck flipped. Oh goodness, she thought, just who I wanted to run into now.

The blond was approaching Emma quickly, swinging a mostly empty shopping bag around her thin wrist. Emma had to admire Holly's confidence – she was wearing cut off shorts, a black tank top, and black flip flops with her hair flipping lazily around her shoulders. Emma wasn't comfortable enough to show that much skin when she was sixteen, much less thirty, but somehow Holly made it look effortless.

"Yes, yes, that's me," Emma chirped, biting her bottom lip. She had little to say to Holly, especially after she'd taken it into her mind that the other woman would never be returning to McKinley. She wondered, suddenly, if Holly had returned to resume her relationship with Will.

"It's good to see, you lady," Holly said brightly, reaching out to nudge Emma lightly on the arm. Holly had to admit, there weren't a lot of people she was looking forward to seeing back in Lima, Ohio. After things with Will hit the fan, she'd left with few strings attached, not expecting to be offered a position as a permanent sub back at McKinley less than a year later. She accepted it knowing it offered more security and financial progress than anything else she was looking at, but she had to admit, she was nervous about going back into that building with no one on her side.

"Thank you, you too. What brings you back?" Emma said lightly, bracing herself to her her ex's name: Will.

"Figgans called me a few weeks ago, offered me a permanent sub job." Holly shrugged, pulling her hair into a high ponytail as she spoke. "Not much else, though," she said pointedly, hoping the redhead would catch her drift: I'm not with Will anymore, either. Holly had heard through the grapevine that Will was single and that Carl and Emma had officially split, so Holly was hoping Emma would be at least a little friendly now that neither of them were in competition for Will's affections.

Emma nodded, taking in what Holly said. So she and Will weren't together. Emma shifted a little, wondering what other motivation Holly could have for speaking to her. "Well, let me know if there's anything I can help you with," she said finally, reverting back to her role as a Guidance Counselor as conversation filler. It never occurred to her that Holly would take advantage of that.

Holly laughed and grinned. "I know we were never really friends, Emma, but I hope now that certain… things are behind us, we can give it a shot. " Emma smiled, but didn't reply: _what was Holly getting at?_ "If you aren't busy tonight, you should come over and watch a movie with me or something," Holly continued, and Emma found herself nodding, still unable to form words. What the hell are you doing? Emma thought, but before she had a chance to back out, Holly was taking the peanut butter from her and putting it back on a shelf. "Did you drive here? I did, but if you want we can come back and get your car. Oh, no, you walked? Even better! The ride to my house isn't far…" Holly kept speaking and Emma found herself being led out of the store, without her prized peanut butter, and to Holly's purple car.

"Oh, umm…" Emma interrupted Holly awkwardly, peering inside the car windows. It wasn't dirty, per se, but it was certainly messier than Emma's car, and as much progress as she had been making, messes were still hard for her to deal with.

Holly froze for a second, not understanding the issue. "Oh," she said finally, remembering what Will had said: Emma had a thing about being clean. "Here, let me clean this up a little." Leaning into the car, Holly tossed a few newspapers, an empty bottle of water, and a half eaten candy bar into her back seat. She brushed off the seat quickly, too, suddenly aware of how many crumbs coated her car. She must think you're so gross, Holly thought, suddenly self-conscious, but she turned around and gave Emma a wide smile. "Sorry about that… It should be a little better now."

Emma nodded, frozen in her spot. She'd come out only to grab peanut butter, and suddenly she was going to Holly's apartment for a movie? The redhead hadn't even brought her cell phone with her! She couldn't think of a single thing to say to Holly to get out of going, except for simply: I don't want to go. And that was too rude for Emma to imagine ever saying… And besides, seeing how genuine Holly's smiled looked, she realized there was a part of her that wanted this: to be normal and hang out with a friend for the night. Jane Austen could wait until tomorrow for more reading time, right?

Once Emma was buckled in, Holly started the car and turned on the music. The station was filled with mostly the top 40 and the ladies spent the short drive in relative silence. Emma couldn't think of much to say, especially with the knowledge that they had at least a few hours together ahead of them. Holly simply enjoyed the quiet, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel and humming along to the music. As she parked, she glanced over at Emma, trying to think of a way to make her feel more comfortable.

"Hey," she said gently, staring at the other woman's profile. "If you want to go home early, it's okay, I won't be mad."

The softness of Holly's tone both surprised and touched Emma. She felt herself smiling back at the blond and she shook her head no. "I don't want to go home yet," she said, and was surprised at how honestly she meant that. "I'm sorry for being a little… quiet, I just wasn't expecting something like this to happen on my trip to get more peanut butter."

Holly smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, well, when you have a friend like me, you should expect little adventures to happen when you least expect them."

Walking up the three floors to Holly's apartment, Emma found herself thinking about that: Friends. Emma never really had a friend before, much less a close one. In the recent years, Emma's closest friend was probably Will, and now that things were so… torn up between them, she knew she couldn't rightly call him a friend. An acquaintance, maybe, but things were too far gone between them for there to still be that comfort and acceptance they'd shared as friends for those years. Since her treatment, Emma had spent most of her time alone, and she hated to admit it, but she was terribly lonely most of the time.

Stepping into Holly's apartment, Emma was surprised at how bare it was. There was furniture, but not a lot, and there were few decorations on the walls. Emma was expecting a lot of color and personality, but this apartment looked like anyone could be living in it. She slipped off her shoes quickly and followed Holly into the living room, not knowing what else to do. It had been an embarrassingly long time since she'd been in anyone else's home and she felt anxious, but excited.

"Sit, make yourself comfortable," Holly said, gesturing to the large couch. Emma sat tentatively and watched Holly shuffle through a large bin of DVDs. After about a minute of her muttering and cursing, the blond grinned satisfactorily and pulled out _Sleepless In Seattle_. "Have you seen this movie? It's great. I love Meg Ryan." And turned to pop it into the DVD player before Emma had a chance to answer (she'd actually seen it herself numerous times, but wasn't about to complain).

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Holly asked, walking the short distance into her kitchen. She had barely any food, but she had plenty of wine. "Here, let me pour you a glass," she said, as Emma opened her mouth, about to inform her host that she actually didn't drink.

"Ah, thank you," Emma said as Holly handed her the glass. The wine was a deep red and filled nearly to the top of the glass. Emma bit her lip again, unsure of what to talk about or how to act.

Holly seemed to sense Emma's nervousness, so she started the movie and turned off the light. "So Emma," she said, turning to face her with her legs curled under her on the couch. "How have you been doing? It's been at least a few months since I last saw you."

Emma nodded, taking a sip of the wine. It was bitter, but left a nice aftertaste; one that she found herself wanting more of. As she began speaking, she felt her insides relax: This is normal, Emma, she told herself, this is what it's like to have a friend. But judging by the devilish look in Holly's eye, Emma found herself needing to gulp the wine down just a _little_ bit faster, wondering what was in store for her next.

Author's Note: This is my first time writing this ship, but I really like them and want to take this story far. That said, I don't know how many people read or ship Hemma so if you're interested in seeing more of this, please review and give me some honest feedback! I'm open to all ideas and constructive criticism!


	2. Chapter 2

Emma swore her glass was magic.

When she first picked it up it was full nearly to the brim and Emma was positive she was going to slip up and spill it all over her new lilac blouse - but now it was empty, still clutched between her thin fingers. How did that happen? She thought, licking her lips for the last after taste. Glancing beside her, she saw that Holly's was still half-full. _It's just a magic glass_, Emma reasoned to herself. _Magic_.

"You gonna be okay there, red?" Holly asked, cocking her head to the side. She hadn't expected Emma to drink at all, much less chug like they were at a frat house. She could tell Emma was nervous and - Holly being Holly - felt better: she was in control and she liked that.

Emma nodded sheepishly. "I suppose I was a little more thirsty than I thought… Thank you, it was delicious," she said slowly, glancing at Holly then looking down at her skirt. She placed the glass on Holly's table - low to the ground and a little cluttered, Emma noted - and straightened her back. In truth, she had no idea how to act around friends, much less someone who had also dated Will.

Holly bit her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing. "Finish the bottle, red, it's all yours," she said, tipping the bottle upside down and ignoring Emma's protests. Putting the bottle down beside the couch, Holly side-glanced Emma and winked at her. "It's nice to see you outside of school… You seem much calmer now."

Emma nodded slowly, trying to keep her hands from trembling as she reached back out for her glass. Again, it was nearly full and she watched the dark liquid sway back and forth as she tentatively clutched the stem of the glass. "It was very kind of you to invite me over…." She took a long, slow sip from the glass and savored the taste on her tongue: _Magic_. "So have you umm…. Have you run into anyone else from McKinley around?" She asked, pleased with herself for being so smooth.

"I haven't talked to Will, no." Holly said pointedly, smirking as the redhead blushed. "Are you two together? I heard about you and the dentist, sorry 'bout that, by the way."

Emma shook her head, staring into her glass. "No, we're um… we're not together. And thank you… I think going separate ways was for the um, for the best." In truth, Emma didn't know what she wanted in a relationship and as she got older, this scared her more and more.

Holly nodded, feeling a little sympathetic - she could only imagine how embarrassing a divorce was. "Here's to friendship, red," she clinked their glasses together and smiled. Emma gripped her glass tighter and nodded back.

"What ummm…. What are we doing tonight? Maybe watch a movie or something?" Emma glanced around Holly's apartment, taking in the sparse decorations positioned haphazardly around the little space. Several Polaroid photographs of women Emma assumed were Holly's sisters and a few paintings Emma couldn't identify by sight. Otherwise, the white walls were surprisingly bland. Emma could feel Holly's eyes on her so she stood quickly, still gripping her almost empty glass - magic! - and walked to Holly's small stack of DVDs. "How about umm, how about _Imagine Me and You_?"

Holly almost choked on her wine. Emma, clearly, hadn't seen that movie before. Holly couldn't imagine Emma's reaction to the unconventional romance in the film - so of course she nodded and told Emma to pop in the movie.

Emma put the empty glass on the beige carpet. She stooped to her knees slowly, trying to tell herself that it was clean, this is the sort of thing three months of therapy helps with, and finagled the DVD player to turn on. Her fingers felt a little wobbly and by the time she got the DVD in, she could hear Holly laughing behind her.

"I'm sorry!" She laughed loudly, throwing her hair back so it shined white in the bright light from the lamp. "You're just… you're really funny, red, I didn't notice it before. You're really something."

Emma stiffened her shoulders and stood up slowly, forgetting about her glass. "And I wonder why you don't have more friends, Miss Holliday," she snapped, straightening her skirt but sitting back beside Holly anyway.

Holly winked mischievously. "Now you adjust your skirt, red? What do you think I was looking at the whole time you were bent over?" She laughed loudly and punched Emma lightly on the arm, to which she received an eye roll and heavy sigh.

"Now, what exactly is this movie about?" Emma slurred a little, staring into Holly's gleaming blue eyes for the first time that evening.

Holly grinned widely and leaned forward, taking a long gulp of her wine. "Well, it's funny you should ask…"


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm accepting of all kinds of love," Emma said stiffly, realizing her wine glass was again empty. Magic. Pure magic.

Holly laughed loudly, tilting head back to cackle and Emma rolled her eyes. "You think I'm homophobic now? Really?"

Holly shook her head, nudging Emma with her bare foot, to which the redhead squirted further away on the couch. "No, red, I don't think you're homophobic… I'm just surprised you haven't turned the movie off yet. You know, there are some pretty racy scenes in here…. Girl on girl action, prettyyyy hot," Holly teased, winking at the blushing ginger.

"Love is one thing, sex is another," Emma said, crossing her arms around her chest. Her head was really spinning and she didn't want to tell Holly the content of the film barely mattered because the images on the screen were a blur to her anyway.

Holly let out a low whistle. "Miss Pillsbury said the s word? No way!" She laughed and got up to get another bottle of wine from her fridge. "If I keep you drinking, you gonna strip for me next?"

Emma blanched. "Holly!"

The blond laughed, refilling Emma's glass, again ignoring her weak attempts to refuse it. "You're pretty tipsy already, Red…. I'm not letting you drive yourself home for a while, so you might as well sit back and enjoy it." Holly had a feeling Emma didn't drink often and was more than a little surprised at how low her tolerance was; regardless, she found Emma much more hilarious while she was buzzed and was more than a little surprised to find her even a little bit cute… but only in a crazy cat lady sort of way, of course.

"I…. I…" Emma sputtered, but the wine tasted good, so her words got lost somewhere in the red liquid pouring down her throat.

As Emma drank, Holly busied herself in the kitchen, slicing some fruit and setting out a tray of crackers. She didn't know Emma well, but she knew that she had some weird dietary "restrictions" and figured fruit and crackers were a better bet than the two day old Chinese food in her fridge.

"Here, eat this and get some of that alcohol out of your tummy, you wine bag," Holly joked, placing the tray on the small table in front of Emma. Emma looked up, surprise shining in her large eyes. "Thank you!" She sputtered and Holly could only laugh.

"Yes, Red, I can be quite the hostess if pressed," she climbed onto the couch and sat closer to Emma – to reach for the tray herself, of course, and let their knees bump against each other. "You seem so surprised I have a lick of manners in me," she added, side eyeing the redhead who was polishing off her glass.

Emma cleared her throat, a fine blush on her cheeks. "No…. No," she said slowly, licking her lips and wondering where they had wandered off to. "You're just… You're being so nice to me…" She shrugged her shoulders and gave Holly a small smile. "I guess I'm not quite used to it yet."

Holly's blue eyes softened – Holly had tons of friends and was never short on people to spend time with, but inside, she could relate to Emma's inherent loneliness. "It's nothin', Red, don't worry about it," she said, knocking her gently on the shoulder. "You're pretty good company… for a cleaning freak," she laughed and Emma shot her a look but cracked a small smile herself.

"I've gotten a lot better, you know," she said abruptly, surprised at her openness, but this magic wine was really doing its job – everything felt floaty and lovely and far away. "I mean, I wanted to get better for Will, but he just… he just never made it work, and I…. I just don't know anymore," Emma shrugged, sadly, and dropped her eyes.

Holly popped a piece of mango into her mouth and raised her eyebrows. Oh god, she thought, this girl wasn't about to cry on her, was she? Holly leaned closer and put a friendly hand on Emma's wrist, squeezing it reassuringly. "Hey, hey, don't sweat it… Other fish in the sea and all of that…" These words seemed to reassure Emma for about thirty seconds, until she burst into tears.

AN: Please review if you're still interested in reading more of this story! I'd love to continue it but I tend to lack motivation if I don't feel like I have a lot of readers, especially for such an obscure ship!


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